CHAPTER NINE

REBECCA

Sebastian said he had an errand to run, and politely asked Rebecca if she wouldn't mind waiting. Just as politely, she replied that she didn't mind at all, and so, she found herself standing outside a blue shuttered house, the sun now high enough to make her shirt stick to her back with sweat.

She contemplated making a run for it. Maybe she could find the Paris Institute. They would be able to help her, wouldn't they? She would be able to return to her family.

But no. She couldn't leave Clary behind. If she escaped, Sebastian would not hesitate to take his anger out on Clary, and Rebecca couldn't risk that happening.

Sebastian didn't take very long. He was back in less than two minutes, and then, without any hassle, they returned to the apartment. The living room was empty when they arrived, but Jace immediately burst through the door leading to the kitchen, closely followed by Clary. "Where were you?" he demanded.

Sebastian shrugged, moving to the kitchen and filling a glass of water. "I thought Rebecca might want to see Paris, especially since she's always wanted to take her travel year at the Paris Institute."

Jace's expression softened, but his voice didn't. "You could have at least told me," he said. "Or left a note. It isn't as if our situation is the safest. What if something had happened to her-"

"I followed him," Rebecca said, glancing sheepishly at Jace. "When he left, I followed him through the Portal. If it's anybody's fault, it's mine."

Jace's shoulders relaxed. "Just as long as you two weren't off canoodling somewhere."

"C-canoodling?" Rebecca spluttered, but Jace simply smiled wickedly as Sebastian chuckled. "Whatever. I'm going to go change."

Clary followed Rebecca to her room; she stood leaning against the wall as Rebecca leaned over the sink in the bathroom and turned on the tap.

"So, what really happened with Sebastian?" she said, as Rebecca cupped water in the palm of her hands and let the cool liquid trickle over her face. It was surprisingly refreshing. She turned and faced Clary, not bothering to dry her face.

"I followed Sebastian to this underground chamber," she began without preamble. "I got attacked by a couple of Dahak demons-" she looked away and swallowed visibly, "-but Sebastian... saved me." She told Clary everything Sebastian had told her, including their conversation in the café - well, almost everything. She left out the part about him supposedly having feelings for her.

Clary bit her lip. "It looks like he really has a plan. It looks like he's really trying to redeem himself." There was a flicker of hope in Clary's voice as she said it, and Rebecca didn't have the heart to disagree. So she simply nodded.

Dinner that night was a somber affair. Neither Rebecca nor Clary spoke much, although Sebastian seemed to be in a very cheerful mood. The moment they had finished, however, Rebecca escaped to her room, seeking some peace and quiet. The day's events had been... bizarre, to say the least, and she wanted to think.

She peeled off her clothes and stepped into the shower. The warm water was like a gentle hand caressing her back. She shut her eyes - and Sebastian's words rose up in her mind, a whisper in her ear, almost like he was standing right next to her.

It seems you desire someone else.

Mark. She had called him Mark, that night in the club. She hadn't thought about Mark in a long time, and couldn't see how she had mistaken Sebastian for him. They had the same blond hair, but that was where the similarities stopped; the Mark she had met in the New York Institute two years ago had been soft-spoken and mysterious, but forever on the lookout for a new adventure. Rebecca had never met someone who had as big a heart as he did, though he always tried to hide it. Once, they had both found an injured bird lying on the ground outside the Institute. Mark had scooped it up in his hands and nursed it back to health for two solid months before releasing it. Sebastian would have probably stepped on it and laughed, she thought, stepping out and turning the water off. After getting dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, she sat on the bed for a long time, staring at the moon as it made its way across the sky.

Hours later, she jerked awake. She had fallen asleep sometime last night, but something had awoken her - she was sure of it. As she slipped out of bed, tousle-haired and alert, she realized what had woken her up.

"JONATHAN CHRISTOPHER MORGENSTERN!"

Clary.

Rebecca muttered a curse that would have made Alec give her a severe talking to, and hurtled out of the room, onto the landing.

For a moment, she thought she was dreaming. Clary was standing there in green silk pajamas, with Jace next to her, sweaty, a big gash across his chest, and Sebastian, in a dark t-shirt and black pants, his hair sleep mussed. The sight of him made her heart beat faster, but she ignored it.

"Lovers' spat?" Sebastian said.

Clary's voice shook, but Rebecca could tell she was trying to hide it. "Jace's rune's damaged. Here." She put her hand over her heart. "He's trying to go back, to give himself up to the Clave-"

Rebecca couldn't believe what she'd just heard. "Clary?!" she said in astonishment, more convinced than ever that she was just dreaming.

Sebastian's hand shot out and grabbed something from Jace's hand. A cup. Pure and glowing. An exact replica of the Mortal Cup. He flung it away, and it slid across the floor, coming to a rest near the top of the stairs.

Meanwhile, Sebastian had grabbed hold of Jace, and was rapidly tracing his stele over something on Jace's chest. Jace was white with shock and completely still. He didn't try to resist – he just stared at Clary with a wild mixture of incredulity and betrayal, and only when Sebastian had stepped away did he finally meet his gaze.

Rebecca could now see the rune that Sebastian had drawn on Jace's chest – an iratze. And underneath that, there was another, fainter rune with a gash running across it. The rune that binds him to Sebastian, she thought.

"Honestly, Jace," Sebastian said. "The idea that you thought you could get away with something like this just knocks me out."

Jace's hands tightened into fists as the iratze, black as charcoal, began to sink into his skin. His next words were eked out, breathless: "Next time... you want to be knocked out... I'd be happy to help you. Maybe with a brick."

Sebastian made a tsk noise. "You'll thank me later. Even you have to admit this death wish of yours is a little extreme."

The iratze was quite obviously hurting Jace for some reason - maybe because of the demonic nature of the rune - but when he spoke, his words were cold and clear. "I won't remember this later," he said. "But you will. That person who acts like your friend-" He took a step forward, closing the space between himself and Sebastian. "That person who acts like they like you. That person isn't real. This is real. This is me. And I hate you. I will always hate you. And there is no magic and no spell in this world or any other that will ever change that." For a moment the grin on Sebastian's face wavered. But Jace didn't. Instead, he tore his gaze from Sebastian and looked at Clary. "I need you to know," he said, "the truth - I didn't tell you all the truth." Jace winced. "The plan," he said. "To raise Lilith, to make a new Cup, to create a dark army - that wasn't Sebastian's plan. It was mine."

"What?" Rebecca gasped. But Jace didn't look at his sister - he was still staring at Clary, whose eyes were wide with shock.

"Sebastian knew what he wanted," said Jace. "But I figured out how he could do it. A new Mortal Cup - I gave him that idea." He jerked in pain. "Or, should I say, he did. That thing that looks like me but isn't? He'll burn down the world if Sebastian wants him to, and laugh while he's doing it. That's what you're saving, Clary. That. Don't you understand? I'd rather be dead- " His voice choked off as he doubled over . The muscles in his shoulders tightened as ripples of what looked like pain went through him. Then he straightened up, his expression bewildered.

So something had happened to that rune. Either Jace had done something to it himself somehow, or he'd been injured in that spot... whatever the case, Jace had been himself for these past few minutes. Not anymore, though.

"What's going on?" he said.

Sebastian grinned. "Welcome back."

"Is it time?"

Sebastian made a show of looking at his watch. "Just about. Why don't you go on ahead and we'll follow? You can start getting things ready."

Jace glanced around. "The Cup - where is it?"

Sebastian pointed. "There. Feeling a little absent-minded?"

Jace's mouth curled at the corner. He grabbed the Cup, gave Rebecca a good-natured wave, quickly planted a kiss on Clary's cheek, and then pulled out his own stele. Within a second, he was gone.

Sebastian turned to Clary, his black eyes very bright. "You called for me. Why?"

I could ask you the same thing, Rebecca wanted to scream at her.

"He wanted to give himself up to the Clave," Clary whispered. "They would have killed him."

"What did Jace mean, 'it's time'"? Rebecca said.

Sebastian whipped around to face her. His eyes, like bits of black diamond, bored right into hers, but she refused to look away, refused to back down. He reached out a hand, and very tenderly, brushed away a few stray strands of hair from her face. His fingers grazed her cheek. "You'll find out," he murmured.

Rebecca jerked back under his touch, but not before Clary noticed.